Don't think I ever posted this pic, dunno who took it. This was in the Collegiate National Championship Short Track at Northstar back in October....Marja just rode passed this group.... Its a cool pic! She ended up 15th in the nation in her first ever short track race.

"What a difference a day makes..."

This weekend marked the return, for me, of cyclocross....but like no other cyclocross race I had ever done. This weekend I would be doing it with gears. Crazy, I know. Who would have ever thought it would be such a hard thing to figure out. Okay, I remember how to shift, its just remembering TO shift proved difficult at times. And being efficient using the gears, well I have a long way to go.

Saturday night was a night race at Sierra Point near Brisbane (South SF) in the Bay. The course was a blast, bumpy a few steep run ups, barriers at the base of a short hill, lots of partying fans, and hey it was lit up, pretty cool. Racing the 35+ A group I figured it would be a wee bit tamer than the Open A category...what was I thinking!? A few former world champions (mtb and CX), a few multiple national champions, what seemed like most of Cal Giant racing this category....lets just say it was gonna be fast! Cool!

I had a Marja-esque starting position, back of the back with nothing but daylight (or moonlight I guess) behind me on the pavement, but hey, its my first go at the gear thing so I thought I'd ease into it. Plus with all the roadies I still stress about being taken out, especially on first laps... Race starts, feeling good, move up from the rears to the middle of the field in the first and then second turns (note: see reference to roadies above). No crashes but bizarre lines on dirt/grass allowed me to take advantage of the inside of both turns. We fly down to a 180 turn, oopps there's face plant #1 and the guy looked like he was in pain. Steep up, steep down, run-up up some stairs, back on having fun. Legs and lungs feel good. Go through a few hairpins in the grass/dirt, head back to to some barriers at the bottom of a hill, crest, hard left down a steep descent to an immediate rise, catch some air and get some beer sprayed on me....so on. Having fun to say the least.

Half way through lap #2 I notice a chatter in my front end. Wrap my hand around the headset, no movement, oh crap!!

1. is my fork busted (have had issues with flex, etc with this new carbon fork)??!!; or
2. does my fork have lawyer tabs, cause my wheel is loose!!?? YIKES

So I keep pushing, but stressing as with each lap the fork chatters more and I notice as I come into tight turns, the bike is slow to track through the turn. Hard to describe! Not a good feeling. So I ride scared which I think slowed me down A LOT (at least that's my story and I am sticking to it!!), but I still grabbed every dollar bill I could from the beer bottles placed in precariously technical spots on the course - grabbed $6, dropped 2 of 'em trying to stuff them down my shirt. Lets just say my mtb riding payed off as I was grabbing the bills literally as I was dropping into a steep little diddie, place the bill in my mouth then kickout off the lip of the ensuing up getting a rise and usually beer sprayed on me each time I was airborne....probably not the fastest way to race, but definitely the funnest considering I was either going to be visiting Marja's Dad to have my teeth remade after my fork fails or it was going to be the last ride on my new CX bike after I ovalize the head tube!

Race ends, no catastrophe, just the plug started to pull out of the fork thus allowing the steer tube to rattle around like a rock in a diet coke can!

Hats off to Scott, he started 45 seconds behind and passed me on the last lap, got about 10 meters on me then i luckily out sprinted him to the line to save a wee-bit-o pride amongst friends... I think it was the "YEE_HAW" he yelled as he passed me that spurred me on. He was still 45 seconds faster than me though, nicely done!!

Marja's A race was right before ours. She was lucky enough to be called up which should have given her an OK starting spot, but a lot of the other women rolled up as Marja was going up so I think she got a little screwed there...Women! I tell ya!

She started faster than I have seen her and she started moving up after lap 2. And I mean really moving up. She caught one of her main rivals with a few laps left and left her behind and almost caught Lizzie on the last lap. She looked strong the whole race and is not being shy about passing! She surely ended up with some strong results, still waiting to see exactly where!

We watched most of the Open A race and then headed back to Cameron Park. Got to bed about midnight, woke to the alarm at 7am (impressed I slept that late, wanted more!) to get up and prep for the next race at Folsom HS, Bicycle Planet's covert CX race - someone needs to tell them to advertise better!! Marja's start was at 9:45, 14+ hrs after she finished her last CX race. I was lucky and got to start at 12:45 in the A's.

Marja's race started FAST....translation: Marja was 30 seconds behind the leader at the end of lap 1, 15 seconds behind Emily who was in 2nd....typical start, but Scott and I figured she'd start winding up! Lap 2, same split to Emily, the leader was about 25 seconds up on her. Marja looked good and was powering through the start/finish straight. A few laps later Marja was 10 seconds behind the two leaders, Emily had reeled in the Velo-Bella gal and I was worried the two would now work together and pull away from Marja but she was on fire. Seems in that lap the Velo-Bella woman took a face plant into a barrier at the bottom of a hill and struggled to get back up to stay with Emily....she punctured trying to catch back up to her. Emily came through the start/finish and Marja was now 5 seconds behind.

In roadie fashion, Emily waited for Marja so they could work together and leave the rest of the field, but as Marja came over the top of her to pull through, Emily punctured as she was riding from dirt to a wooden bridge.... Marja rode the next two laps solo to a win in the women's A race. STUD!!!

She tries to minimize her win by referring to the other women's flats, but she caught'em and its all part of it!! She was a stud.

My race rolled around, finally, and I have to admit, after the night before I was nervous about my fork and the gears. In the night race I was fumbling with my gears, always seemed to be too ez or too hard, longing for my single speed so I did not have to think I just had to pedal... Truthfully, I was tired as hell too!

I started near the rear, the Open A's and 45+ A's went together. I slowly moved up through the pack down the straight and a few tight turns and some technical sections, as we flew down a section of hard pack dirt (and cobble, duh..its Folsom always assume half buried cobble) we came to a tight left. AS I set up to take it fast, a Davis Bike Club guys flies to my outside along with a SGW inside of him who is going to pinch me off in the corner.... this is gonna be ugly!!

As we start into the turn, I have my elbow and right knee sticking out to keep the SGW guy from pushing me off my line....my first thought as we entered the turn was that DBC guy is toast, and as I thought it I hear the sound of deep dish carbon tubulars skidding across the cobble....Then, the SGW next to me hits the deck and they get all tangled up....being on the inside of the turn, I immediately stood up and pedaled through it to miss the carnage!

"F-ing Roadies!!" slips out of my mouth....

Bruno from Davis comes by as I am still shell shocked from being taken out of the race, "man I can't believe you didn't get taken out!!" It was good to see it wasn't Bruno who was in the DBC kit...jumped on his wheel for several laps but couldn't hold his pace, he's strong!

Rode up through several people and started to slowly make my way up. Rode strong, I was really happy with my race. A couple of the longer straight aways I just couldn't spin up with the roadies and caught myself thinking, "I gotta ride my road bike more"...but oh well.

Going into the last 2 laps I was catching another DBC rider, got on his wheel through the start/finish straight and then the next straight he opened up a can of whoop-ass...ouch...I didn't panic and figured we had the whole last lap ahead and I was faster through the technical stuff. 1/3 lap later we hit another straight and he gets more distance after I closed the gap, and as we approach the final run up he looks over his shoulder and saw me closing the gap. at the top of the run up I just wasn't close enough to get by the line.

Ended up 6th in the Open A class, but more importantly I was just happy how my race went! Got a little bit better with the gears but still felt completely inefficient...but getting there! Love the bike when the front end isn't coming a part!! I would like to have that night race back to ride again.

For me, the two races were as different as Night and Day.....

Sorry, I had to do it!

Race Across the Sky...Leadville, CO

Cool race to do at least once. I have done it 3 times and would love to do it again on my single speed. Now with Lance embracing it, its insane, at least for the first climb up and over St. Kevin's (20 miles). The last year I raced was when Floyd Landis raced and the race organizers ballooned the field from 450 to 750. That was a crazy start and I was staged in the top 50 or so from the previous year's finishers. Now the field is 1400. So you can imagine the cattle call on climb #1. Still, with the elevations involved its a great challenge, great atmosphere, great town!

November 12 is another showing of the documentary on last years race with Lance winning...

http://www.raceacrossthesky.com/

FYI

24 Hr Racing = Brain fart

Here's a video from the Coolest 24 Hours back in May. Lovingly dubbed the Wettest 24 Hours of Cool:

It poured Friday, and came down in biblical fashion that night. I of course was the picture of calm and control while listening to the deluge outside Friday night. Just don't ask Marja or Chris, they "misinterpreted"....

The lead in for this video: it had been 21 hours of heavy rain, deep slimey mud, 5 sets of brake pads and suffering. Pete, Marja and Chris kept me upbeat and moving through the night! But as you can see, my mental abilities at this time were lacking...

Enjoy...

...tired legs survive to the Podium!!!!

MTB season has finally ended!! Saturday was the Knickerbocker 8hr, last stop in the Leave No Trace Endurance Series. Going in, I was burnt out. An 8hr race in mid-October when I am so ready to play on the CX bike...it was tough. The problem was, I needed to defend my second place in the overall behind Tinker Juarez. And of course, should he have a mechanical or other issue, I could have possibly moved into the top spot on the podium....but reality was I needed to ride strong and finish near the top to keep my 12.5 mile lead over Mike Harrison from Breakaway Bicycles. Thankfully Pete and Sharon were on site running support, because I needed the motivation - legs just plain tired. Marja was in Salinas racing the collegiate race in order to qualify for the Collegiate National Championships on 10/16-10/18 at Northstar. She was racing on one lung basically - nasty cold/illness since the previous weekend!

Back to Cool....beautiful day compared to the rain at the 24hr race here in May, actually wore a vest and arm warmers up until the start. Word for the day... "DUST." The entire first lap was maybe 12 inches of visibility except for the climbs. By the time we got around to the climb out of Salt Creek I knew I was going to have a rough go of it. Oh well, been there before.

Lap 1 done, ufff.

Lap 2, just can't find the power.

Lap 2 done, whoa.....

Lap 3 is absolute misery, but in waves....some climbs strong, the next not so much.

Lap 3 done, "MEDIC!!"

As I leave on lap 4 Pete looks at me and tells me to 'find some legs, now!'

I laughed along with Sharon in the pit. But lap 4 felt good, well as good as it can of course, that's the weird thing about this ridiculousness called racing....it hurt just as bad, but the fact I was going considerably faster somehow made it "OK."

Lap 4 done, I made up a chunk of time of Mike Harrison and the other SSers. That's pretty much how the next 3 laps went, just consistently making my way up through the field. If I had another 8 hours I was golden! On that lap I heard Tinker dropped, Pete was like a little school kid because he thought I may have a chance to make up the miles Tinker lead me by in the Series Standing. I spent that next lap trying to do the math while I pushed even faster, but on the hike-a-bike out of Knickerbocker my 1st grade math skills came back to me and I realized I would not catch him....bummer, but I still had to defend my 2nd - just needed to finish on the same lap as Mike Harrison. He was racing a geared bike this day, just as he did at Cool, and rumor on the course was he was with Tinker (relatively speaking) for the first 3 laps - fast... I just pushed my 34x18 as fast as I could around the 12.4 mile course.

Going out on lap 7, Pete told me to enjoy it as Harrison was NOT going to be able to make an 8th lap, in fact he finished only 7:30 ahead of me. I officially had a new bench mark for suffering! End result, I was one step below (on the podium) of a 3 time World Champion, 4 time national Champion and 2 time Olympian... Not bad for a single speed! Great feat to help remind my kids you can do anything if you set your mind to it!

What a crazy day - Marja took 4th at her race which is amazing considering how bad her lungs were! She will be racing Nationals Friday in the XC and then Saturday in Short Track!!!

...it's not everyday you get to share the podium with Tinker Juarez

A huge thanks goes out to Marja, Pete and Sharon for supporting me this season, without their work in the pits I would never have finished where I did! They are amazing! All three of them sacrificed a lot for my racing. Of course Chris, his dumb-a$$ was there when this whole nonsense started at Worlds in Laguna Seca, I wish he could have been there for all the races. And to the source of all our lunacy: Scott and Linda....w/o their whacked out desire for the EPIC ride and always wanting to do it faster I might be sitting around playing Xbox (ooopppps, I did last night!)!!!

Now is time to play...

And let the record show, I built up a new CX rig and not only does it have gears in the back, it has another derailleur up front - that's 2 derailleurs!!

Uncharted territory....

So the CX season started in sunny California...and I do mean SUNNY. CX is about the cold, rain and mud even some snow. Sunday at Del Paso Park, circa 98 degrees....whatever! Not sure I believe it was that hot, but when its CX, unless its CACX, should you really have to worry about dust!?!?

Marja went off first in the Women's A race and started slower than she hoped, but holy cow she came back with a vengence!! She dropped her main rival from last year and with one lap to go caught the first chase group of three...unfortunately that group had two tag-a-longs riding Lizzy's wheel for the previous 3 laps and when the two gals went Marja went with them and tried her hardest to pull Lizzy through with her, but Lizzy was spent - road tactics, whatever! Anyway...

Marja ended up 4th in the A's....keep in mind she raced a BRUTAL XC course up in Chico the day before, oh yeah and the Super D as well. I am jealous!

Scott and I went next....as I expected I was the only schmoo on a single speed racing A's, and the course was flat and smooth with a bunch more flat and smooth sections. I was in the main pack through lap 3 but once we hit the long flat straight-away after the grass on that lap I quickly spun-out and killed myself trying to spin like mad to keep up....I only made it 3 more laps until I rode off the course completely done....pathetic, I know.

Two weeks ago I raced the Tahoe Sierra and felt great that week right after it and probably rode way too much and too hard, and on Sunday I paid for it. My body opened its own can-o-whip-ass on myself...tough to swallow. I slept for a few hours after the race. Maybe I should have listened to my legs last Wed and Friday on my CX bike on some long rides where I just felt BLAH.... oh well, nothing like a little smack in the face to remind me I am old and need to recover!!

So after that long lead in, here's the kicker.... I wanna play with the big boys in the A's... I did okay last year on my SS, I mainly did it to race 60 minutes instead of the 45 for the SS class. I think its time to step it up...and that means trying to figure out how to ride a geared CX bike...yeah I said it! I may take baby steps and start with a 1x9, so only one derailleur to start with...or I might go crazy and get a front derailleur too....who knows.

Thats my next adventure, if only I remember to shift once I have them!!

There's my week! Now the REALLY COOL adventures from the previous week were with the kids:

1. Annika now can pull off a roundoff-back-handspring solo. Not bad for my little 5yr old gymnastic stud! She has been working hard at it with her coach at practice and then at open gym Saturday, she nailed it!
2. Cam's actually playing soccer....meaning he and his team are passing and moving the ball around the field, its too cool. They even almost scored off Cameron's corner kick, Logan was a few inches from heading it in. No more bunch ball!!! Of course it leads to really lopsided scores now that our team has "figured the game out", but its still great to watch.

This weekend we drive to Parkfield (BFE northeast of SLO) for race #2 in the WCCC collegiate race schedule. Marja and UCDavis are hoping to have another great performance, last week was 3 of the top 4 I believe. Marja hopes to be on her new hardtail. Then after hanging out with the folks in P-town, we may head into the Bay for the opening of the CX series out there on Sunday...

Stay tuned....

Tahoe Sierra Race Report

Well by 7:45a.m. Saturday morning, if you had asked me.....my day was going downhill FAST! In reality, it was going uphill very SLOWLY!!

The Tahoe Sierra 100 (I wish it was 100, I will get to that) was Saturday out of Soda Springs. The 3rd stop on the Leave No Trace Series. Going into the race I was second behind Tinker with Mike Harrison from Breakaway Bicycles 12.5 miles back (1 lap at Cool). I went into the race wanting to top Mike, but the reality was , since the race was based on miles, I only needed to finish to keep my second place...BUT why just show up to one of these things "to finish?!"

Mike and I hung out Friday night before I met up with Linda and Lou at their place in Soda Springs. So nice staying 5 minutes from the start! However, I maybe slept 4 hours at best. I have had a crazy time sleeping lately, and the race didn't help anything.

We started at 7a.m. sharp with a blazing decent down Soda Springs Road (rough dirt road) toward the days first climb - Lyons Ridge Road (4x4 access road). The trip down was better than I thought, I expected the single speeds to get blown out the back but tucking in behind people and taking some risks kept me in good position to the first "up" of the day. I started grinding away and QUICKLY realized I felt terrible. I usually do early on, but knowing Mike, Jared and Zol were fast starters I wanted to keep it close early.

Jared and Mike were gone, and Zol was pretty close in front of me, but I felt like I was going backward. I slowed even more to try and get my heart rate down, but I was starting to get nervous for my race. Been there before, so I kept slogging away. Linda cruises by with ease, I eventually catch back up to her after the summit and pass by hoping we could help each other out through the day...unfortunately I didn't see her again.

Lyons Ridge done, the decent to French Meadows was spooky!! The dust was so thick you seriously could barely make out the trail and the rider in front of you. If you have ever ridden at night with a head lamp in thick fog.....this is what it felt like. Bizarre and nerve racking!

Bottom out and we eventually hit the next climb out of French Meadows, another 1800 to 2000 feet to climb....Now my legs are feeling better. The climb is not as steep and its a fire road so you can choose your lines carefully to avoid slipping.... Passed a few people, one single speed makes his way past me.....he's spinning a small gear....no worries its early.

Hit Mary Allen's aid station at the top, ride through and begin the grind up a long piece of "single track" called RedStar Ridge.... I was riding with two bottles and my Deuter (camel back) so I was fully self-supported. I had an identical pack already loaded waiting at mile 52 w/ Marja and Pete at their Aid Station. Running self-sufficient would prove wise later on.

Redstar, wow, really powdery - wait its the Sierra in mid-September, duh!?! Its challenging, and hey its single track...then we hit the brush from hell. The trail is:

1. Chewed to hell by motorcycle traffic
2. runs through previous fire ravaged terrain, i.e. more powder
3. its steep and its rocky
4. disappears through thick brush

Not whining, just pointing out the obvious...a ways into it I remount and start cranking away when the powder gets deep....there I am turtled about 10 feet below the trail, still clipped in, now covered in powder... at least I was able to make people laugh!!

There are several hike-a-bike sections for everyone, not just the SSers....then comes the descent in the powder. I really had fun, it was dicey and you really had to pay attention to the ruts in the powder, but what a blast....

Here we are at mile 30, Madcat has an aid station at 37, I remember thinking we'll be there soon! Seeing that the first 30 flew by, the next 7 took an eternity! We had 1.5 miles on the road, a good chance to eat. A wee unnerving with my Deuter hanging in front of me, digging through the pack with both hands at about 40 mph heading down the pavement...fig newton in hand, now I can put the hands on the bars just as we hit dirt again....

The dirt rolls along for about 3/4 of a mile, then a 90 degree turn to the right and up we go. Up in a hurry. Although not brutally steep, the 4 inch deep powder with what seemed like marbles in it made it impossible for me to grind up....I caught myself getting irritated, and hopped off and began the death march....100 feet, hop back on and ride for a several hundred, then the next switchback....hike.... I got rid of the negative thoughts and realized everyone was doing the same, and those riding were going the same overall pace I was.

Problem was.....I was HURTING...legs were on fire, lungs felt fine.... I was having the mental battle like it was 3 a.m. in a 24 hr race. I accepted that I was losing big time on everyone I wanted beat. I hoped my legs would rally, that I would rally.

FINALLY, Madcat aid station at mile 37...I ride by and notice there are about 15 people there and most look destroyed. All the people I climbed to the aid station with are off their bikes, i.e. losing time :)

It was the first ugly part of the race, a well maintained fire road that was barely an incline, i.e. spinout in my 34x19 for a few miles then it kicked a bit, then it kicked me in the face, on two occasions - I was hike-a-biking again!

Finally the left hand turn at mile 42 that meant what I hoped was a descent to Pete and Marja at their aid station at 52. With only a few little rises the next several miles were a riot just bombing down the single track....I use that term loosely here, lets just say it wasn't a road, it wasn't double track...it was what one could call a line through the trees and the rocks...

We plopped out on s nice fire road and climbed up to 52. This 2+ mile climb felt good, FINALLY!!!

Pete and Marja's aid station - Marja had my burrito (turkey, rice, cheese and salsa) along with a Fresca! MONEY!! I joked with Sharon as I devoured my food...off I went. Marja told me Mike was already on the loop (we looped back to the aid station after a 7 mile stretch of single track). This meant about 40 to 45 minutes Mike had on me.

The loop was gorgeous, fun single track. The views were amazing, at one point a 2000 foot wall of granite across the canyon. Incredible!

I leave the aid station after a diet coke and start grinding back up toward Madcat, this time covering the elevation in a "more direct fashion"...ouch!

Two SSers pass me. Whoa, just relax and keep ticking away.

Madcat aid station, one of the SSers is blown to pieces on the ground with his helmet off. The other on a trek 29er is out of the aid station already. Damn!

As I pass I notice about 10 to 15 people in that aid station, again I am so happy I was self-sufficient! Although I am hurting, I am able to keep better focus and grind away at the climbs in what seems a more deliberate pace.

Fast forward to Robinson Flat Aid Station...

25 miles to go, I grab a regular coke and pull out more fig newtons as I roll on by.... I am alone on the course now, alone since the Madcat aid station. At Robinson we had over 3000' left to climb, its a long "rolling" slog toward Mary Allen's aid station that's 15 miles out. Along the way I realize I am grinding away at a good clip. I starts pouring rain for several minutes, very refreshing and knocks what dust in left in the air down.

15 miles to go, still alone. Mary reminds me of the tricky decent ahead, gives me a cherry coke as I ride through.

Second rise on the descent to the final climb back up to Soda Springs....there's the Trek 29er, walking on what seems to be a rideable climb.

The next rise I catch him, he is walking and I am riding.

"You've been kicking my a$$ all afternoon, get on that bike lets go!!" In retrospect I should have hit him hard and made him work mentally and physically. Sometimes it doesn't pay off to be a nice guy. But what can I say...

"You're an animal, I'll try"

We talk for a while as we ride along. Its mellow terrain now, the ups are not so tough and the descents are FAST. We hit the bridge that marks the 7 mile to go point and the bottom of the last 2000' of vertical...

He kept asking about aid stations and if any were left, I told him NO and offered a bottle of water. He said he didn't need it and offered me half of a Red Bull....I declined. The road kicks and I begin to pull away. I am hoping his Red Bull kills his gut but he dangles at about 10meters behind me. Several minutes pass, then he is next to me....then he opens his can of WHOOP-A$$...it was the slow release kind, the ones that slowly choke you to death instead of slapping you in the face, hard....

I passed probably 6 more people on the climb to the finish. Once there I see Mike and Jared sitting at the finish. Jared won it. He was only 5 minutes ahead of Mike, Mike was 6 ahead of the "whoop-a$$-kid" and I was 4 in the rears of him. After being as much as 45 minutes down on Mike I got within 10 freaking minutes....

My Garmin read 89.2 miles....if the race was 100 I feel I would have caught Mike and maybe Jared! I would hope Whoop-a$$-kid too but who knows. In the end it seems I was riding myself back into contention.

Moral of the story, I hate to do it, but I need to quote someone here. It seems I wasn't really having that bad of a day after all....

"...it never gets any easier, you only go faster..." Greg Lemond

Until that final climb I would have told you I was having a horrible day, but the fact that the top 4 SSers all finished w/in 15 minutes of each other after roughly 10 hours says something. I am very satisfied with my finish, now if I could get a "start" worth talking about, damn!

Race Stats:

• 10:08:12
• 89.2 miles
• 12,480 feet of climbing
• 4th place Pro/Expert Single Speed

Like I always tell Cameron and Annika, "Don't give up! Don't EVER give up!!"